Big Girls Don't Cry
by DixonVixen93
Summary: Set in the "There Is No Danger" 'verse by the lovely IronAmerica: Charlie Matheson didn't like sharing her Unca Mi, but she would have to make exceptions for Danny. Pre-Blackout.


**Hey everyone! IronAmerica gets great cred for this story, seeing how she came up with the plot in the first place. I'm borrowing it for a little spin, if y'all don't mind. **

**Pre-Blackout, 'cause everything is so much sweeter and fluffier then. **

**I own nothing. **

_**Big Girls Don't Cry**_

Charlie Matheson puffed her chest out as she came stomping down the wooden stairs, the beginnings of a pout tracing her lips. Okay, so she was five years old? She was still old enough to sleep with Unca Mi, her favorite stuffed animal since… ever. But ever since that snot-nosed idiot was born, she had to _share_ Unca Mi. Sharing was so not caring, not according to Charlie.

Danny had stolen her teddy bear while she was taking a nap with Unca Fishy, and neither of them had even stirred as the two-year-old toddled away with the cherished toy in his chubby hands. Rachel noticed it as her baby boy came up to her, hugging Unca Mi close to his chest. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself down; that bear still gave her the creeps, but, no matter how much she hated it, Danny and Charlie truly loved their "Uncle Miles".

"Danny, baby, what are you doing?" the mother asked, kneeling down as her son scurried over to her with a toothy grin.

"Unca Mi!" Danny squealed, followed by childish laughter as he rammed into his mother's knee. "Up, up!"

Rachel complied without protest, scooping her child up and hugging him close. This was her baby boy, and no one could take him away from her. She looked down at the toddler, who had buried his head in her curtain of blonde hair. Incidentally, his first word had been "Unca Mi". The mother was starting to believe that Miles trained her son that way, just to spite her. Ben, of course, chose not to get involved and refused to say a word about it.

"MOMMY!" Charlie shrieked from the kitchen door. She was rubbing her blue eyes, turning the waterworks on for good measures. Rachel practically jumped out of her skin as she looked down at her daughter. "Charlie, what's the matter?"

The five-year-old took her hands back and crossed them over her chest defiantly as she stared at her little brother, who was chewing on the teddy bear's ears. "Mom! Danny is abusing Unca Mi!"

Rachel just sighed as she looked in between both children. "I thought it was agreed that both of you would share the cre—Unca Mi?" she _had_ to censor herself, despite how severely she despised that bear.

"Sharing sucks," Charlie replied, sticking her tongue out at Danny as he began giggling once more. "Mama! He's teasing me!"

"Charlie, he's just a baby. He giggles at everything," the blonde mother reached a free hand out to ruffle her daughter's golden hair. "You were the same way too when you were his age."

The five-year-old whined and began stomping in the direction she came from. Unca Mi—the real one, he'd understand, and he'd get the teddy away from Danny…

When Charlie found her uncle, he was on the couch, reminiscing with Bass and Ben. After all, the three of them had been through a lot together.

"Bass, the look on your face was _priceless _that day," Miles wiped tears away from his eyes as he continued to laugh; all three men had huge grins on their faces. Charlie wrinkled her nose as she stepped further into the room. Growed-ups were so weird…

"Hey, I was drunk!" The younger Marine fought back, laughing it off just the same.

Ben just watched the two of them, shaking his head. Of course, it was all fun and games before he saw his elder child coming up to them, sporting her best pout. "Guys, censor, _now_," he threw back at them before speaking to Charlie, "Goldilocks, what are you up to?"

"Danny took Unca Mi away from me, Unca Miles!" Charlie cried as she crawled up into the dark-haired Marine's lap. "Tell him to give him back!" She pulled on Miles' jacket and stared up at him with teary eyes.

Miles looked towards his brother for help. Bass, of course, wouldn't be of any help. If anything, he just encouraged the child further.

"Danny is a baby, sweetheart. He needs Unca Mi to keep him safe, just as much as you do," Ben told his daughter, scooping her up and cuddling her against his chest. The younger Matheson brother looked relieved and glanced over at his best friend, who was wearing an enthusiastic grin on his face.

"But he's not afraid now! Daddy, Unca Mi is _mine_!" Charlie crossed her arms again, blue eyes still swimming with tears.

"Don't you want to protect your little brother?" Ben asked, kissing his daughter on her forehead. She wrinkled her nose in response.

"No," the little girl added, "he's stupid," she added stubbornly.

"Hey," Miles warned, looking his niece dead in the eye. "Don't talk about Danny like that. Remember how you couldn't wait for him to get here?"

Charlie pouted and shook her head. "That was a'fore he took Unca Mi!"

"You're going to have to learn to share, Charlotte," her father told her, giving her a gentle smile.

The little blonde plopped down in her father's lap again, sighing in defeat. "Fine; I don'ts gotta like it, do I?"

Ben, Miles, and Bass all shared equal looks of amusement. This was going to be a long, hard fight…

o—o—o

Charlie tried to focus her attentions elsewhere while her little brother got to spend time with Unca Mi. Nothing was really as good as snuggling the warm, fuzzy teddy bear. She tried curling up and watching TV with her real Unca Mi, and that helped some. But then he decided to go home, which brought her back to ponder her own boredom.

The five-year-old crawled off of the couch and went over to the large cabinet right next to the TV. Some of the shelves were crammed with dusty books, but some were crammed with movies and games. Charlie got on her tippy-toes to reach the middle drawer. Inside the drawer were coloring books, sketchpads, markers, colored pencils, pastels, and crayons. Any time she was bored, her dad would pull this out for her. Sometimes he would even sit down and color with her! Not right now, though, he had left a little while ago to take Miles and Bass back home. And, unfortunately, Rachel never colored with her.

Charlie stuck her tongue out in concentration as she felt around for her coloring book and colored pencils. The blonde squealed when she planted her feet flat on the floor again. She took her things and padded over to the couch again, propping her legs up on the couch cushion as she plopped down and turned to an uncolored page in her pirate coloring book.

She took a red out of the pack and began coloring the parrot that sat on the female pirate's back. The five-year-old was in her zone, finally. This was something that she liked to do; it brought back fond memories, 'cause she almost never colored alone. When Ben wasn't helping her, it was either Miles or Bass, sometimes both.

The little blonde heard something coming from upstairs, but chose to ignore it. Danny made a fuss a lot, and mommy went up there to save the day. But today, though, her little brother didn't stop crying. It made the elder child worry; she packed up her things and left them on the couch. What was wrong with Danny? Was he hurt?

Charlie marched back up the stairs and headed towards her little brother's room. The high-pitched wailing only got louder when the five-year-old came in. Rachel was rocking her son and whispering soothing words down to him. The two-year-old's body still wracked with sobs. Every now and then, he'd lift his head up from his mother's shoulder and start to hiccup.

"Mommy?" Charlie called from the doorway, her tiny face wrinkling in concern. "Why's Danny crying?"

"He just had a bad dream," Rachel whispered, gently rocking her baby back and forth. Her oldest child noticed that Danny didn't have Unca Mi with him. She looked over at his bed, which was where the teddy bear was tossed. The blonde mother had scooped her son up and left Unca Mi on the bed, not understanding that that made it worse.

The five-year-old picked the cherished teddy bear up and smiled down at it. Maybe, just maybe Unca Mi could help Danny feel better. He always helped her when she was down in the dumps. Rachel frowned at her daughter as she slid Unca Mi onto her lap.

"Charlie, sweetie, I don't think the teddy is going to much help," the blonde mother replied worriedly, sighing as her daughter just gave her a look.

"But, mama, Unca Mi chases away the monsters! He makes everything not so scary," Charlie sent her mother a tiny smile, who was just glancing between her two children.

Danny stopped crying almost instantly when he saw the teddy bear. He grabbed Unca Mi by the foot and hugged the cherished toy for dear life. "Unca Mi! Scare mon'ters!"

The elder child crawled up in her mother's lap and hugged her little brother closely. "A'course Unca Mi'll scare the monsters away! When you gets scared, just hug Unca Mi, and he protects you."

The two-year-old grinned at his sister and began whispering to Unca Mi. Rachel just gathered both of them into her arms, even the creepy teddy bear.

Sharing Unca Mi wasn't so bad, Charlie decided. Besides, Unca Mi _was_ the best at scaring the monsters away.

**I was going to make a last scene, but I decided to leave it like this. Ya'll know what to do!**


End file.
